- A double-amputee Iraq-war vet is suing
Michael Moore for $85 million, claiming the portly peacenik recycled an
old interview and used it out of context to make him appear anti-war in
"Fahrenheit 9/11."
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- Sgt. Peter Damon, 33, who strongly supports
America's invasion of Iraq, said he never agreed to be in the 2004 movie,
which trashes President Bush.
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- In the 2003 interview, which he did at
Walter Reed Army Hospital for NBC News, he discussed only a new painkiller
the military was using on wounded vets.
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- "They took the clip because it was
a gut-wrenching scene," Damon said yesterday. "They sandwiched
it in. [Moore] was using me as ammunition."
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- Damon seems to "voice complaint
about the war effort" in the movie, according to the lawsuit.
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- But what the father of two from Middleborough,
Mass., was really talking about was the "excruciating" pain he
felt after he lost his arms when a Black Hawk helicopter exploded in front
of him.
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- Damon wasn't expressing any opinion about
the war, the suit charges, but rather extolling the drug.
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- "I just want everybody to know what
kind of a guy Michael Moore is, and what kind of film this is," said
Damon. He has appeared in two films attacking "Fahrenheit" -"Michael
Moore Hates America" and "Fahrenhype 9/11."
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- In "Fahrenheit 9/11," the bandaged
National Guardsman is shown laying on a gurney complaining that he feels
like he's "being crushed in a vise. But they [the drugs] do a lot
to help it and they take a lot of the edge off it."
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- His image appears seconds after Rep.
Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) says, "You know, they say they're not leaving
any veterans behind, but they're leaving all kinds of veterans behind."
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- Damon - the dad of a 8-year-old girl
and 4-year-old boy - doesn't come close to feeling that way.
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- "He couldn't have picked the worst
guy to say that about," he told The Post.
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- "I'm the most fortunate disabled
guy. I've even had a house built for me [by a nonprofit group, Home for
Our Troops]."
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- Particularly outrageous to Damon is the
fact that Moore never interviewed him or asked his permission to use the
old clip.
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- "I was complaining about the pain
I would've been having [if it weren't for the painkiller]," he said.
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- NBC is named in the suit - which was
filed in Suffolk County, Mass., on Friday - along with Harvey and Robert
Weinstein, Miramax Corp., Lions Gate Films and other production companies
involved with the picture.
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- Newsman Brian Williams ends the NBC clip
by adding, "These men, with catastrophic wounds are . . . completely
behind the war effort," according to the lawsuit.
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- That part, which wasn't shown in the
Moore movie, is a far more accurate depiction of Damon's feelings, he said.
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- Lawyer Dennis Lynch said he took the
case last year and they held off filing the lawsuit in a bid to settle
the matter.
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- "We attempted to resolve the situation
amicably with Mr. Moore [for a year] but he refused," he said.
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- Damon is asking for up to $75 million
because of "loss of reputation, emotional distress, embarrassment,
and personal humiliation."
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- In addition, his wife is suing for another
$10 million because of the "mental distress and anguish suffered by
her spouse."
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- Spokeswomen for NBC and Harvey and Robert
Weinstein would not comment because they haven't seen the suit. Lions Gate
doesn't comment on pending litigation, a rep said.
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- Michael Moore and Miramax reps didn't
return calls for comment.
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- http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/69383.htm
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